Page 155 of All the Forbidden Things
A cameraman and boom operator arrived shortly after Daniel. A blue screen has been set up behind us, and we’re all sitting comfortably.
“So, Max and Billie Young, it’s been a while, tell me what you’ve been up to since YWR’s last album and tour?”
Knowing how much Billie hates this kind of thing, I answer first.
“Well, we finally finished renovating this place, we’ve just had another baby, I’m busy writing for the next album, and Billie’s been setting up her farm stay charity.”
I smile down at my wife and give her hand another squeeze.
“The charity sounds amazing, Billie, tell me a little more about that?”
“We have twenty-four cottages built around a communal area which contains a play park, benches and barbeques. We have chickens, which have to be fed and their eggs collected every day. We have goats, and pony’s in a paddock, and we have horses for riding, who also need to be mucked out and fed. There’s an indoor pool as well as a small cinema.”
I watch as she gives a small laugh and bites down on her bottom lips.
“When I say it all out loud, it sounds like a lot.”
“There is a lot, it sounds amazing,” Dan tells her.
“It’s a great place, a quiet place for kids who may have experienced any kind of violent trauma in their life to come and just chill out, be kids again.”
“And you set this up after your own experiences as a child?”
“Kind of. I just know what worked for me. I escaped to my aunt's ranch in California, it was a place I found I could work off my anger, and process what had happened to me … to my parents.”
“And the kids who come to stay, they’re expected to help out with the animals?” Dan asks her.
“It’s not expected, they’re welcome to help as little or as much as they like, but most want to do everything. For some of the kids, those from innercity areas, they’ve never ridden a horse, or been to a beach . . . Oh, I didn’t mention the beach did I, sorry.”
I smile as she gives a small laugh and shakes her head, my heart feeling like it’s about to burst with pride at what she’s managed to pull together, while juggling four kids and a pregnancy. I slide my arm around her shoulder and lean in and kiss her temple. She tilts her head up and gives me a sideways smile before carrying on. “The beach is just a short walk from the cottages. It’s somewhere the kids can also swim, although, we make sure they have lessons in the pool first, and surf. All of our instructors and staff are police checked and hold the appropriate paperwork for working with children, over half of them are fully qualified counsellors, and some are even victims of trauma themselves.”
A camera crew have already been out to the farm—which is set up just across the road from our own place, but we’re not making that fact public—The footage will be broadcast with the interview, along with all of the appropriate links for making donations, and information on how to apply for a break in one of the cottages at Sunflower Stays.
“So, life in the country has worked out well for you both, do you miss London at all?”
“No.” Our answer to Dan’s question is quick and unequivocal.
We’ve not lived in London permanently since all of the drama with Whitney happened six years ago. My house in St John’s Wood was sold the following year, and although we still have investment properties there, we no longer have a permanent home in the city. Our time is spent here, at the place we bought close to Billie’s family in Australia, or at the cabin we purchased on the edge of Lake Tahoe.
“We prefer life away from the city. Cornwall gives us much more freedom to live our lives quietly, away from any press intrusion, and it means our kids are being raised around animals, close to the beach, and all of this wide-open space.” I gesture with one arm spread as if the wide open-spaces are surrounding us and not the walls of our home.
“So you don’t miss the press attention then?”
“Absolutely not,” I jump straight in to answer that one. “The way Billie was attacked by the media during my divorce is something I’ll never forgive them for.”
“And Whitney Federov, the mother of your eldest daughter—”
“Billie’s my eldest daughter’s mum. She’s been that since the day she came to work for me when Layla was just eight or so weeks old, and we made it official when Billie adopted her on the same day we were married.”
“And Whitney has no contact with her dau—with Layla?”
“None. The courts awarded me full custody, but we made it clear at the time if Whitney ever wanted to see Layla, we’d have no problem with that. She never has.” I try not to sound pissed off, we agreed to this line of questioning before agreeing to the interview, Dan said it would help put paid to any rumours that were still floating around out there about my relationship with my ex-wife.
“And the band, has your rift with Callum Wild been mended?”
Billie laughs and looks up at me shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
“There is no rift with Callum Wild, he's my best mate, bandmate and brother-in-law. Yeah, he hated it when I first got with Billie, but he soon got over it.”
